It was a weekend of painful post-mortems for some teams and euphoria for others as sport around Newcastle reaches its business end.
The Knights had another mixed weekend - the men suffering an embarrassing loss to the Titans on the Gold Coast while their female counterparts made it two from two.
Both are back at home next Sunday - the women face Parramatta before the men finish their disappointing season against the Sharks.
On the local front
West Leagues Balance are through to their fourth straight grand final in Newcastle Netball Association's premier division.
The three-times champions beat minor premiers Souths in the preliminary final to line up a championship decider at National Park next Saturday with first-time grand finalists University of Newcastle.
In Newcastle Rugby League, Cessnock captain-coach Harry Siejka praised the impact of Jayden Young off the bench as the Goannas put themselves one win away from a grand final.
Cessnock meet Macquarie in Saturday's preliminary final at Lyall Peacock Field.
Elsewhere, Brock Lamb produced arguably his "best game" for Maitland and Pat Mata'utia made a momentum-changing tackle as the Pickers powered into the club's first Newcastle Rugby League grand final in over a decade.
Finals spots locked in
Charlestown and Newcastle Olympic sealed top-four positions and finals appearances in the penultimate round of NPLW Northern NSW while the premiership looks well and truly in Warners Bay's grasp.
The Panthers looked set to finish on top regardless of their final-round result while Azzurri and Olympic are still battling it out for third and fourth place.
In the men's NPL NNSW, Azzurri secured a finals spot but the premiership is set to go down to the wire. Maitland regained the lead from Jaffas, going to 39 points - one up on Lambton and Broadmeadow.
Meanwhile, Norths coach Dave Willott has praised the "consistency" shown by his squad to claim the 2022 men's Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League minor premiership as they eye finals next weekend. In the women's competition, Gosford sealed their first minor premiership.
What else happened
The Northstars (47 points), who were destined to finish second on the ladder regardless of the weekend result, now meet minor premiers Canberra Brave (49) at O'Brien Icehouse on Friday night (8:30pm).
Captain Sam Rouse scored a try on return from injury as Merewether demolished Maitland 48-0 at Marcellin Park on Saturday to clinch the Hunter Rugby Union minor premiership. Finals start next weekend.
